The Sticky Scene

I recently started drafting what I think is going to be a novella that launches a series set in the nineteenth century. There’s a scene that I can’t get out my head, however. A scene that I think fits into a contemporary set between two political operatives in Washington, DC. A scene that, in other words, has nothing to do with the project that I’m ostensibly writing.

I know that what I need to do is get the sticky scene down on paper and then go back to the historical work in progress. But I’m a little curious about how other people approach their work.

Do you have one and only one work in progress at a time? Do you have multiple projects that you flip between depending on your mood and motivation? Am I just too darn dilettantish?